Militants placard electoral posters of Marseille's incumbent Mayor and candidate for re-election in France's upcoming municipal elections Benoit Payan in downtown Marseille on January 20, 2026. MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
The French municipal elections scheduled for March 15 and 22 could prove particularly rich in lessons and surprises. It will be the first time voters cast ballots in municipal elections under normal circumstances since 2014. The 2020 vote was a "weightless election," to use the words of Romain Pasquier, researcher and professor at Sciences Po Rennes. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, announced the day after the first round, skewed the results, especially in terms of voter turnout. Turnout dropped by 20 percentage points in the first round, from 63.6% in 2014 to 44.7%.
Nevertheless, the 2026 municipal elections differ from previous ones in many ways. The twists and turns of the budget debate in the Assemblée Nationale and the instability of national political life have disrupted the campaign, leaving it seemingly paralyzed by chaos. Without a national budget for the time being, local officials and would-be candidates still do not know what fiscal leeway they will have to implement their projects.
